DLA Piper law firm’s non-profit affiliate that provides long-term pro bono legal assistance in under-served regions around the world, recently taught an online seminar on pro bono to more than 30 undergraduate law students at the Universidad del Rosario.

Pro bono work is legal advice or representation provided free of charge by legal professionals in the public interest. This can be to individuals, charities or community groups who cannot afford to pay for legal help and cannot get legal aid or any other means of funding.

During the course, which was held on November 18, Lisa Dewey, DLA Piper’s pro bono partner and director of New Perimeter, and Sara Andrews, senior international pro bono counsel and assistant director of New Perimeter, spoke to the participating students about the importance of pro bono legal work and how they can get involved in pro bono over the course of their legal careers.

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a transcontinental country spanning South America and an insular region in North America.

The project is part of an eight-year relationship between New Perimeter, the Universidad del Rosario and Fundación Pro Bono Colombia to encourage and help create a culture of pro bono in Colombia.

Over the course of the collaboration, New Perimeter has sent lawyers to Colombia to teach law students and practicing lawyers about legal social responsibility, the use of pro bono to address unmet legal needs and increase access to justice, and the history of pro bono in the United States and around the world.

This is the first time New Perimeter connected virtually with Colombian students.